Shake-table test performance of an inertial force-limiting floor anchorage system

Abstract

The paper introduces the Inertial Force‑Limiting Floor Anchorage System (IFAS), a deformable floor connection designed to limit lateral earthquake forces by decoupling the floor from lateral force–resisting elements. A half‑scale, 4‑story reinforced concrete flat‑plate structure was tested on a shake table at UC San Diego under 22 strong-motion sequences. The IFAS structure showed reduced shear wall base rotation, inter-story drift, and (in some cases) floor accelerations compared to a rigidly anchored reference structure. These results demonstrate IFAS’s promise for low‑damage seismic building design